This is an opinion column.

There seems to be a great concern about the voice of conservatism today. Writing for legacy newspapers in the South, I’m no stranger to the headlines and articles that attack and undermine many of the institutions, people, and places I love. I also don’t spend a lot of my time stewing over people who disagree with me. I’d like to take a minute to explain why I’m a conservative, what I’m hoping to conserve, and why I’m not into partisan tribalism.

Individual liberty is a paramount virtue to political loyalty. For that, I will never apologize. I’m absolutely in love with the American ideal of self-governance. We the people are in far more control of our government than most nations on earth. Our government exists to maximize civil liberties in the context of an ordered society. The moment we deviate from that critical founding tenet, we deserve a full-throated rebuke regardless of our political party. The road to hell is paved with the good intentions of authoritarians whose only demand was absolute loyalty.

The Constitution is an excellent safeguard against such leaders. Democrats can critique it as the product of benighted, racist, morally-failed men who are the ancestors of today’s Republicans. The Constitution allows for that. Republicans can say that the First Amendment is far too permissive to allow Democrats to disparage them in such a manner. The Constitution contains a process to address that. In fact, America’s founding document is both principled and flexible. The liberties it articulates as amended over time demand our conservational efforts.

For quite some time, I’ve battled with the myth of a “true conservative.” Sen. Mitch McConnell isn’t a true conservative except for when he is. Former President Donald Trump never claimed to be one, but he is one except for the excessive spending, tariffs, and that time he called for termination of articles of the Constitution. These weird games around who is and isn’t appropriately conservative based on unknown standards are as destructive to conservatism as any progressive policy.

I can’t count the number of small elite groups attempting to position themselves as the conservative arbiters of political candidates and the orthodoxy of American constitutional liberties. Conservatives, by our nature, are free in our beliefs. We worship as we please, support the politicians we like, and, on rare occasions, dance in the rain because we feel like it. We wouldn’t tolerate the idea that the government knows best even for a moment. Why should we think that small cabals of the politically weird are any better at dictating what we should believe, think, and feel?

I understand why Republicans are bothered when I question their preferred politicians. What I struggle to comprehend is how those same people are categorically unable to do the same. Being intellectually honest about the politicians I oppose and dishonest about the ones I support is crazy and unethical. If anything, we’re more vulnerable to the political abuses of politicians we like because we’re much quicker to give them a free pass.

Part of being a conservative is maintaining our Constitution’s suspicion of the politically powerful. The political class will always try to consolidate the power which the Constitution purposely fractures. Congress has too easily delegated its power to the executive branch, yet the only time the House or Senate attempts to claw it back is when the other party is in the White House.

Conservative leaders must recognize Lord Acton’s maxim: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The grand irony is that the time to truly divide American political power is from a majority position. Our current leaders seem unfit for such a difficult charge. Imagine the outrage if Senate Democrats agreed with the Republican House to take back their legislative authority from President Joe Biden. Far from being incensed, Americans would best protect themselves by demanding it.

Contrary to current practice, conservatives must also oppose leaders who wish to wield government power to punish their political enemies and critics. Conservatives should neither use government to boost voices which agree with us nor attempt to silence those who oppose us. The American marketplace of ideas should be robust and competitive. The answer to speech that upsets us is more speech. The books we dislike should sit on the same shelf with ones critiquing them. Suppression and censorship only benefit the government and the political class.

I’m also a conservative because we need to learn from the lessons of our past. While isolationism on the global stage has become a popular talking point for many Republican politicians, we’ve literally been in this exact posture before. After World War I international cooperation gave way to isolationist voices who blamed the war on munitions companies and banks who financially benefited from the fighting.

Congress passed Neutrality Acts in the 1930s which banned American citizens from trading with warring nations, making loans to them, or traveling on their ships. Even as Nazi Germany conquered Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, isolationists said the United States had no good reason to be involved. It was a politically popular posture which ignored reality.

The names Republicans are using today aren’t even new. In the early 1940s, the America First Committee promoted the isolationist narrative through print, radio, and mass rallies. Then, as is now the case in Ukraine, Americans should have asked how many American lives could have been saved by earlier intervention. We shouldn’t write blank checks to foreign nations, but we must accept that alliances matter in a world where the distances between us seem to shrink by the day.

Ironically, our strength on the global stage depends heavily on our fortitude at home. Strong families are the cornerstone of a free and prosperous society. What institution is more important to conserve than the family? One research study after another confirms the value of a two-parent household to the future success of children. Because we’re now a culture of families which come in myriad configurations, too many conservatives have abandoned support for the family altogether. How about we support all the families and make parenting easier?

Conservatives claim to care about human dignity, but we too easily reduce American parents to units of economic production. Socialists think like that. We shouldn’t. Thanks to COVID-19, American children are in terrible academic shape. Giving parents the educational choices, tax policies, and flexibility to raise their families well is essential.

Finally, I reject the political tribalism of the moment because I don’t place my confidence in the success or failure of the candidates I vote to elect. I’ve been told America is one election away from irredeemable failure for the last decade or so. Such nonsense is a political pressure play and nothing more. America’s best days are ahead of us. We secure them by rejecting fear mongering politicians who beg us to surrender our independent judgment and fall in line.

Being a conservative isn’t easy, nor should it be. In politics, conservatism is often the path of most resistance. That doesn’t mean we should be malicious as we push back.

If you’re offended by my irreverence toward Trump, Biden, or just about any other politician, you’ll hopefully find a discussion. If you’d like to see me attack my progressive colleagues for their opinions, I’ll jokingly offer that they know so much that isn’t so. When you beg me to rage and fight against political opponents, I hope you find a happy warrior. As I write and speak about the topics of the day as a conservative, I’ll try to do so with enough humility to recognize how much I have left to learn.

I hear a lot of talk about revolution these days. I agree it’s necessary. America needs a revolution in the way we treat each other. Each of us should declare our independence from the politicians promising the world and delivering so little. We should launch a brave new world where we trust our eyes, ears, and discernment instead of swallowing the media’s bait. Every revolution begins with a few open minds willing to put principle over popularity. There’s no reason it can’t begin anew with conservative ideas about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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Smith is a recovering political attorney with four boys, two dogs, a bearded dragon, and an extremely patient wife. He’s a partner in Triptych Media, a business strategy wonk, and a regular on talk radio. Please direct outrage or agreement to [email protected] or @DCameronSmith on Twitter.